A Declaration of Fundamental Expectations of the Citizens of Maine

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A
 Declaration
 of
 Fundamental
 Expectations
 of
 the
 Citizens
 of
 Maine
 

 
We,
 citizens
 of
 Maine,
 grateful
 for
 our
 unique
 heritage
 and
 beautiful
 State,
 committed
 to
 the
 well-­‐being
 
of
 our
 neighbors,
 and
 responsible
 for
 the
 life-­‐prospects
 of
 our
 young,
 believe
 that
 the
 civic
 health
 and
 material
 
prospects
  of
  our
  State
  and
  nation
  are
  radically
  de-­‐graded
  and
  at-­‐risk.
 
  We
  seek
  to
  reverse
  this
  decline
  by
 
identifying
 its
 origin
 and
 advancing
 a
 positive
 alternative.
 

 
COMPLAINT
 

 

 
Decades
  ago
  -­‐-­‐
  in
  the
  honorable
  effort
  to
  secure
  civil
  rights
  and
  civil
  liberties,
  help
  for
  the
  needy,
  and
 
protection
 for
 America’s
 environmental
 majesty
 -­‐-­‐
 our
 State
 and
 national
 governments
 began,
 at
 great
 taxpayer
 
cost,
  a
  course
  of
  relentless
  growth
  and
  intervention
  in
  the
  lives
  of
  citizens
  with
  the
  intent
  that
  parts
  of
  America's
 
way
  of
  life
  and
  beliefs
  be
  erased
  and
  the
  rest
  irremediably
  altered.
 
  Now,
  knowing
  no
  bounds,
  that
  instinct
  of
 
control
  -­‐-­‐
  incompetent
  in
  governance
  and
  intolerant
  in
  nature
  -­‐-­‐
  has
  grown
  perverse
  while
  recklessly
  fueling
 
discord
  between
  Americans
  of
  different
  races
  and
  economic
  situations.
 
  It
  erodes
  our
  freedoms
  while
 
encumbering
  us
  with
  fundamentally
  illegitimate
  governance
  and
  cultural
  decay,
  all
  aided
  by
  a
  climate
  of
  strident
 
political
 correctness
 and
 intimidation
 that
 aims
 to
 silence
 people
 of
 good-­‐will
 who
 disagree.
 
 The
 results
 include
 
these:
 











Waste
  of
  Maine's
  Human
  Capital
 
  For
  forty
  years,
  both
  political
  parties
  in
  Maine
  pursued
  policies
 
whose
 ultimate
 effect
 
 converted
 our
 State
 from
 a
 productive,
 industrial
 powerhouse,
 populated
 by
 hard-­‐
working,
  dignified,
  builders
  and
  craftsmen,
  into
  a
  hollowed
  shell
  of
  its
  former
  self.
 
  As
  the
  economy
 
worsened,
  the
  State
  created
  a
  culture
  of
  dependency
  intended
  to
  dull
  the
  decline.
 
  Now,
  nearly
  one
  in
 
three
 Maine
 residents
 depends
 on
 some
 form
 of
 public
 aid
 just
 to
 survive.
 
Decline
  of
  Lifetime
  Opportunities
 
  Nearly
  half
  of
  births
  in
  Maine
  are
  to
  mothers
  on
  Medicaid
  thus
 
ensuring
 that
 too
 many
 of
 our
 future
 fellow
 citizens
 suffer
 from
 grievous
 and
 avoidable
 life-­‐difficulties
 
beginning
 with
 their
 first
 breath.
 
Constraint
  of
  Taxes
 
  Confiscatory
  and
  ill-­‐spent
  taxes,
  including
  its
  estate
  tax,
  have
  forced
  a
  flight
  of
 
wealth
  from
  the
  State.
 
  While
  other
  states
  enjoyed
  population
  growth,
  Maine's
  population
  stagnated
  and
 
grew
  poorer.
 
  While
  citizens
  of
  all
  political
  leanings
  agree
  that
  the
  total
  tax
  burden
  is
  far
  too
  high,
 
dysfunction
 in
 State
 government
 prevents
 reform.
 
 
Decline
  of
  Population
  Vitality
 
  Maine
  is
  one
  of
  only
  two
  states
  with
  more
  deaths
  than
  births,
  an
 
unwitting
 condemnation
 of
 the
 State
 and
 its
 social
 and
 economic
 climate
 by
 its
 young.
 
Discouragement
  of
  Job
  and
  Wealth
  Creation
 
  For
  decades,
  Maine
  has
  been
  one
  of
  the
  most
  severely
 
unwelcoming
  states
  for
  businesses.
 
  High
  taxes,
  overbearing
  regulatory
  requirements,
  and
  needlessly
 
high
 energy
 costs
 suffocate
 incipient
 entrepreneurship
 and
 job
 creation.
 
Failure
 of
 Adult
 Responsibility
 to
 Maine's
 Young
 
 Maine’s
 schools
 and
 much
 of
 its
 media
 increasingly
 
function
  as
  gullible
  purveyors
  of
  a
  petulant
  sense
  of
  grievance
  and
  complaint
  -­‐-­‐
  utterly
  ignorant
  and
 
unappreciative
  of
  our
  historical
  foundations
  -­‐-­‐
  instead
  of
  preparing
  children
  to
  work
  in
  a
  competitive
 
global
  economy
  and
  endowing
  adults
  with
  the
  information
  needed
  to
  act
  as
  citizens
  in
  a
  complex
 
democracy.
 
  Primary
  and
  secondary
  education
  remain
  unsatisfactory,
  with
  too
  much
  money
  for
 

administrative
  overhead
  costs
  and
  too
  much
  power
  in
  the
  hands
  of
  union
  interests.
 
  Much
  of
  Maine's
 
media
 has
 been
 a
 willing
 accomplice
 to
 the
 State's
 decline,
 compromised
 by
 agenda-­‐driven
 interests
 and
 
now
 rightly
 deprived
 of
 public
 trust.
 

 
A
 MAINE
 REVIVAL
 

 
This
  erosion
  of
  our
  civic
  health
  and
  economic
  values
  has
  deprived
  broad
  swaths
  of
  our
  population
  of
 
education,
  civic
  compass,
  and
  economic
  opportunity.
 
  It
  has
  undermined
  our
  national
  character
  and
  ability
  for
 
self-­‐government.
 
  Only
  a
  docile
  people,
  unworthy
  of
  their
  citizenship
  in
  a
  great
  and
  free
  nation,
  would
  resign
 
themselves
  to
  such
  decline.
 
  We
  seek,
  here
  in
  Maine,
  to
  create
  an
  exemplary
  State
  where
  a
  compassionate
  but
 
prudent
 government
 lets
 flourish
 the
 prosperity,
 liberty,
 and
 instincts
 of
 mutual-­‐support
 of
 independent
 citizens.
 
 
The
 elements
 would
 include
 these:
 











Education
  as
  Preparation
  for
  Lifetime
  Opportunities
 
  Maine’s
  public
  schools
  and
  universities
  will
 
operate
 with
 the
 sole
 objective
 of
 equipping
 students
 with
 the
 knowledge
 and
 social
 skills
 required
 for
 
becoming
  informed
  American
  citizens
  and
  leading
  productive
  lives
  in
  a
  global
  economy.
 
  Maine’s
 
educational
 system
 and
 its
 critical
 mission
 will
 not
 be
 governed
 by
 political
 correctness
 and
 politicized
 
unions.
 
Prudent
  and
  Thrifty
  Government
 
  The
  core
  duty
  of
  State
  government
  being
  to
  use
  the
  tax
  dollars
  it
 
appropriates
  from
  citizens
  only
  in
  prudent
  and
  beneficial
  ways,
  the
  State
  will
  strictly
  identify
  and
 
eliminate
  all
  spending
  that
  is
  wasteful,
  duplicative,
  or
  with
  no
  measurable
  net
  good
  to
  its
  citizens
  and
 
provide
  a
  comprehensive
  annual
  accounting
  to
  citizens
  on
  these
  waste-­‐reduction
  and
  spending-­‐
justification
 efforts.
 
 
Compassionate
  Help
  for
  Truly
  Needy
 
  Maine
  will
  implement
  the
  most
  aggressive
  system
  of
  welfare
 
reform
  in
  the
  United
  States,
  borrowing
  from
  innovative
  and
  successful
  programs
  nationwide,
  so
  as
  to
 
provide
  fuller,
  more
  humane,
  and
  far
  more
  effective
  support
  to
  the
  truly
  needy
  and
  those
  requiring
  a
 
hand
 up
 and
 to
 absolutely
 no
 one
 else.
 
 
 
Reduced
 Tax
 Burden
 
 There
 will
 be
 comprehensive
 reform
 of
 Maine's
 tax
 code
 leading
 to
 substantially
 
lower
 or
 no
 income
 or
 estate
 tax.
 
End
  of
  Public
  Sector
  Union
  Influence
  on
  Elections
 
 
  Maine’s
  public-­‐sector
  unions
  will
  be
  dissolved.
 
 
Their
  transfer
  of
  union
  dues
  -­‐-­‐
  in
  origin,
  taxpayer
  dollars
  -­‐-­‐
  to
  politicians
  who
  act
  in
  their
  narrow
 
interests
  and
  not
  those
  of
  all
  Maine
  citizens
  will
  cease.
 
  So
  too
  will
  its
  degradation
  of
  the
  essential
 
preconditions
 of
 representative
 democracy.
 
Reasonable
 Regulatory
 Climate
 
 The
 State
 will
 identify
 and
 repeal
 the
 many
 existing
 regulations
 that
 
serve
  no
  useful
  purpose
  and
  unduly
  burden
  already
  struggling
  businesses
  and
  provide
  a
  comprehensive
 
annual
 accounting
 to
 citizens
 on
 these
 efforts.
 
 
RESOLUTION
 


 
We
 firmly
 resolve,
 and
 we
 ask
 fellow
 Maine
 citizens
 who
 agree
 with
 these
 propositions
 and
 judgments
 to
 
so
  resolve,
  to
  work
  relentlessly
  toward
  revival
  of
  a
  Maine
  that
  conforms
  to
  its
  unique
  cultural
  and
  economic
 
heritage.
 
  We
  will
  accomplish
  this
  through
  mobilizing
  at
  the
  local
  level
  concerned
  Maine
  citizens
  to
  demand
 
proven
  and
  effective
  change
  in
  the
  areas
  of
  economic
  growth,
  taxation,
  education,
  and
  government
  operations
 
that
 will
 benefit
 all
 Maine
 residents;
 through
 fair
 scrutiny
 and
 exposure
 of
 dereliction
 of
 civic
 duty
 in
 increasingly
 
unaccountable
 organizations,
 including
 schools
 and
 the
 media;
 through
 sponsorship
 of
 alternative
 organs
 of
 vital
 
information,
 including
 The
 Maine
 Wire,
 in
 support
 of
 an
 informed
 democratic
 process;
 and
 through
 unassailable
 
research
 and
 analysis
 of
 public
 policies
 in
 Maine
 to
 inform
 those
 in
 positions
 of
 power
 so
 they
 can
 restore
 and
 
extend
 the
 heritage
 of
 our
 great
 State.
 
An
 Initiative
 of
 the
 Maine
 Heritage
 Policy
 Center,
 September
 3,
 2015
 

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